B.C. Lions gladiator Khreem Smith still smiling

Leos defensive end is more dapper and less rapper, and not after a bite of revenge

Khreem Smith practices with the Lions at their Surrey practice facility on Tuesday. Smith had $6,500 worth of dental work after being head-butted by Brendon LaBatte of the Blue Bombers in last year’s Grey Cup game.

Photograph by: Jenelle Schneider
, Vancouver Sun

METRO VANCOUVER — Khreem Smith has lost his golden smile.

His upper row of teeth no longer consists of trademark metallic choppers, but instead has been replaced by a permanent bridge that makes him look more dapper, less rapper.

The B.C. Lions defensive end has his smile back now, but you won’t see many photos of him grinning in the wake of the last year’s Grey Cup victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

He missed the entire fourth quarter of the championship game after his helmet popped off and All-CFL guard Brendon LaBatte of the Blue Bombers head-butted him in the face. LaBatte was still wearing his helmet at the time.

Smith suffered a gash to the nose, a rip to his gums that required several stitches to close, leaving him with a mouth full of bloodied and broken teeth. He later had to have his golden fangs, the ones that were still hanging, removed, and replaced by the bridge, at a cost to the Lions of $6,500.

Months later, he just shrugs off the incident as one of the hazards of the occupation. In the off-season, LaBatte left for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as a sought-after free agent, the Lions already have played the ‘Riders twice, and Smith has seen no reason to seek retribution.

“Dental work is expensive, and I’m glad the team paid for it,” Smith said Thursday, following the Lions’ final practice before Saturday’s game in Edmonton. “It’s a gladiator sport, and there’s a lot that goes on that you don’t see.”

Unlike Smith’s teammate, Khalif Mitchell, who was suspended for two games for a blatantly illegal move on Simeon Rottier — the Eskimos offensive lineman who had his arm twisted by Mitchell in a direction nature did not intend it to go — LaBatte got away with his misdeed scot free. No condemnation from the TSN panel. No investigation by commissioner Mark Cohon. No public and media outrage based on replays of the videotaped evidence. The 2011 season ended that night of Nov. 27 and everybody moved on. For Smith, however, it was a while before he was able to bite into a victory steak.

“I showed the referee what he (LaBatte) did, and he just blew it off,” Smith recalled. “Everybody talks about what Khalif did to Rottier. But what happens out there cuts both ways.”

Typically, Smith handled one of the vicissitudes of a football life in low-key fashion, by never bringing attention to the incident, or himself. He is a warrior who goes about his understated business, making a difference, without flash, now even less so without his tusks of gold.

“A guy like Khreem should be in the National Football League — because he’s a student of the game,” said Lions defensive line coach Carl Hairston, who spent 30 years in the NFL as a player and coach. “And he’s big, he’s athletic and he can run. When you have guys like that, you can do a lot of different things on defence.”

At 33, Smith definitely has been around — NFL (three teams), Arena League (five teams), Continental Indoor Football league, CFL. And he’s picked up a lot of savvy in his travels.

That was evident last Saturday against Toronto when, with the result hanging in the balance and the Argos scrimmaging from the Lions 20-yard line with less than a minute to go, Smith rushed quarterback Ricky Ray, punched the ball loose and linebacker Adam Bighill recovered to preserve a 28-23 Lions’ victory.

“I was trying to get the sack, but I hit his (Ray’s) hands first — just the luck of the draw, I guess,” Smith explained. “He (Hairston) teaches us to do that in drills. But it’s something I do instinctively anyway. That’s what I like about him. He allows us to play. You don’t have to think as much. Coach lets us go out there and play off our God-given talent. If we do something wrong, he’ll tell us. But he just let’s us play loose.”

The Lions were 0-3 when Smith joined the team last July, as a refugee from the Arena League’s Spokane Shock. Since that time, they’ve gone 21-7, which includes last year’s Grey Cup win and an 8-3 start to the 2012 season.

Still, it was pretty clear in training camp this year, that the Lions were looking to push Smith and hope a younger man could take his job. Ra’Jon Henley, Jeremy Geathers, Rodney Paulk, Brandon Peguese, Brandon Jordan, Maurice Evans ... the Lions lined up a host of eager, and lower mileage candidates, in hopes of getting a better push. But most of them are gone now, with the exception of Evans (46-man roster) and Jordan (released but repatriated to the practice roster). And Smith remains a fearsome presence on the front four.

“We went with the four best, and he (Smith) is still one of the four best,” said GM Wally Buono.

“Khreem is as good a defensive end as you’ll find in this league at pushing the pocket,” added head coach Mike Benevides. “He brings his lunch pail. He’s physical, he’s tough and he’s resilient.”

And, as a seasoned veteran of “smash-mouth football”, Smith knows it’s not merely a figure of speech.

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Khreem Smith practices with the Lions at their Surrey practice facility on Tuesday. Smith had $6,500 worth of dental work after being head-butted by Brendon LaBatte of the Blue Bombers in last year’s Grey Cup game.

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